New manager Alan Pardew insists his top priority is keeping Newcastle in the Premier League this season.
New boss determined to keep Toon in top-flight
New Newcastle manager Alan Pardew insists his top priority is keeping the Magpies in the Premier League this season.
Pardew assumed the Toon hot-seat on Thursday in a five-and-a-half year deal following fans' favourite Chris Hughton's sacking at the beginning of the week.
The former West Ham and Charlton manager inherits a side in a mid-table position having been guided to promotion from the Championship by Hughton last season.
And the new boss has made it clear top-flight survival is his primary focus, with a push for a top-10 finish in his future plans.
Obvious
"I think it's obvious that this club needs to stay in the Premier League," Pardew told
Sky Sports News.
"If it was to come out of the Premier League that wouldn't necessarily mean that I would leave the club but it would be difficult to stay, and I have to understand that.
"I will be looking in the short-term to make sure that we are a Premiership club for next year and then hopefully be strong enough to challenge for the top 10.
"I have got to try and get the owner and the board into a position where they want to invest in the team and have belief in the manager and the team. You can only do that over a period of time."
Pardew reiterated that he pushed for a lengthy contract in order to build stability at the club, who have undergone six managerial changes in less than four years.
"It is about the stability of the club going forward and building something here that is sustainable," he said.
"My argument for that is that if you want to do that, you have to give me a contract that warrants that.
"If not I'll have a two-year contract and let's see how we get on. That was my argument and we have come to this arrangement where we have a long contract and hopefully I can see it through."
Local
Pardew says he is keen to fulfil the wishes of the club and bring more local players through the ranks.
"The one thing that they have expressed to me strongly is that they want players coming through, hopefully local players," he added.
"I have concentrated in the past on building on a club and sometimes taken my eye off the first-team so I have got to be careful that I get that right."
